Art History

Painting from the Well Cave in Lascaux Cave (15,000-13,000 BCE)

• Artist Unknown, France, Paleolithic, Pigment on Stone

• Storytelling (Failed Hunting Attempt)

• The bull was pierced by a spear which can be seen through its intestines falling out -spear on the ground

• Earliest depiction of a story

Hall of Bulls (15,00 BCE)

• Artist Unknown,France, Paleolithic, Pigment on Stone

• Pigment on Stone

• Twisted composite view

• Has a seemingly horizontal line (ground line)

• Has no real landscape

• No true understanding of what it was for but one possibility is that the animals were of some importance

Lion-Human Figurine (c. 40,000-35,000 BCE)

• Artist Unknown, Germany, Paleolithic, Mammoth Ivory

• 1 foot long

• Half Lion, Half Human

• Made so you can see all the way around it

• Worn Down(Indication of being handled)

• Significant Importance(Estimated 400+ hours to be made)

Women of Willendorf (24,000-22,000 BCE)

• Artist Unknown , Paleolithic, Limestone

• Possibly showing textiles (Knitted Cap)

• Symbol of Fertility (Big Breasts)

• No Clothes

• Colored with Red Oaker

• Made so you can see all the important parts

Temple of Anu at Uruk (c. 3300 BCE)

• Architect Unknown, (Uraka, Warka, Iraq), Mesopotamian

• Located in one of the first cities

• One of the first temples

• Dedicated to the god Anu ruler of Uruk

• Zigarot

• White and could be seen for miles

• Grooves alongside provided relief from the blinding color

• Built with Corvee labor(reflects a change in society)

• Cella:Most sacred part of the temple

• priest entered at a 90 degree angle as to not directly face the gods

Uruk Vase (c. 32000 BCE)

• Artist Unknown, (Warka,Iraq), Mesopotamian, Alabaster

• First great work of native relief sculpture

• Design pops out

• Tells a story

• Oldest Narative Relief

• Split into registers

• 1st Register:crops(composite view) and animals (profile view)

• 2nd Register:laborers carrying resources, shows musculature, and is abstract

• 3rd Register: priest king giving goddesses offering(Inana) and in the background you can see all the offerings

• Tells us something about the lives of people in Uruk

• Shows the surplus of society

• Iconography (priest king)

Royal Standard of Ur

• Artist Unknown, (Cemetary at Ur, Iraq), Mesopotamian, Wood, Shell, Lapis, Red Limestone and Bitumen, Mosiac

• Scenes on all four sides

• Front Side( showcases peace, as it show hierarchy of people in Uruk workers as the bottom until at the top you see the king)

• Back Side(showcases war, shows people being trampled and otherness being portrayed as being bad, and you can see king at the top as well)

• Showcases the king is the pinnacle of society

Funerary Complex and Stepped Pyramids (2667-2648 BCE)

• Imohotep, Egyptian

• First time we see a building like this with stone

• Combined mortuary and mestaba complex

• Lots of fake doors and buildings that only the Ka could use

• Extreme amounts of labor (corvee labor)

• Complex is permeable to the Ka not people

• Has a serdab

• Has one of the first pyramids (many mastabas stacked on one another)

• Symbolizes god like statue of the king

• Virtual place for the kings ka

Ka Statue of Djoser (2592-2566 BCE)

• Artist Unknown, Egyptian, Painted Limestone

• One of the first life size statues

• Wearing stuff only a king would (Nemes Headress, Hebsed Robe)

• High Cheekbones, Wide ears, Almond Ears(Abstract)

• His face is idealized (making him look perfect as thats what they wanted the king to be associated with)

• Probably would have held something

Statue of Khafre (2258-2532 BCE )

• Egyptian, Made with Gneiss

• Same stuff as Ka Statue but has on a Shendet Kilt instead

• Face is idealized

• Has intertwined Papyrus and Lotus lead (shows united upper and lower egypt)

• Horus god on the back of his head

Knossos Palace (1700-1300 BCE)

• Artist Unknown, Minoan

-Located in a place that essentially was in charge of

-It looks like a labyrinth

-Palace complex:Not in the usual definition as there is no evidence that a person of royal personage lived here

-1000 years of history in one building

Toreador Fresco (c.1400 BCE)

• Artist Unknown, Minoan, and Paint on Plaster

-Showcases a sport with athletes and bulls

-Seems that they would vault on a bull than flip off of it

-True Fresco: added pigment on wet plaster in order to achieve the beautiful pigment.

-Waists narrow, very bright colors, no registers, profile view

-No space in the fresco very intentionally filled up (Minoan Stylistic Convention)

Dolphin Fresco (c. 1700 BCE)

• Artist Unknown, Minoan, Paint on Plaster

• More realistic view especially in terms of portrayal of depth

• Space completely filled (Minoan Stylistic Convention)

• Has bright borders

• A little whimsical

• Known for their protrayal of the organic wood in the naturalistic and colorful way